


Sun shines where the angels fall

by orphan_account



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Cannibalism, Everyone Is Gay, Hannibal Lecter is a Cannibal, Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, OC is fucking weird, Pre-Canon, Psychological Trauma, obviously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Mr White’s shirt was not white anymore, shred and stained on the couch. Prince Sunshine crouched beside him, his hands disappeared into the chest. The girl tried to peek over Prince Sunshine’s shoulder, leaning this way and that, but she couldn’t see.She had to see.
Relationships: Alana Bloom/Margot Verger, Bella Crawford/Jack Crawford, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Kudos: 3





	Sun shines where the angels fall

The fridge was empty, aside from a half-empty bottle of mustard on the shelf. A frail hand reached for it, but there was no way for the small child to grab it, even if she had climbed onto the countertop. The sound of her rumbling stomach roared through the single room condo. She whined in dissatisfaction. A mass of flies circled the licked-clean jam jar at the base of the fridge. It had sat there for the past few days, as Mr White had not been around to throw it out. The thought made her heart stutter. Mr White usually came around every other day to visit her, this was the first time he broke the routine. 

Anxiety ate at her, sending shivers up her bare feet to her shoulders. She did not like Mr White, but as her fingers played her ribs like a loose guitar, hunger won over her conscience. 

She had gnawed at her hand while she waited. Blood crusted her mouth, irritating her cracked lips. She had to stop once she had begun to bleed, if only because the metallic taste itched her dry throat. 

With effort, she pulled herself up and crossed the condo to the coffee table by the couch. It took using her entire mass to budge the table back to the counter again. She panted for the room’s stale air by the time she stood on the high countertop. The stove protested as she scampered across, following her nose.

The cabinets held tiny bottles of colourful powders, each smelled unique and had her sneezing into her elbow. She knew that she should not eat them; her dad had scolded her for eating a tub of cocoa powder before. Plus, she feared Mr White possibly scolding her for being sick all over the kitchen. So, despite her aching for the delicious smelling spices, she replaced them and closed the cabinets.

Her feet dangled off the counter while she debated hopping off the height. With little more hesitation, she opened the utensil drawer to hang on to as she leaped. When she landed, her shoulder screamed in pain, pulled unnecessarily backwards. Her feet slapped the floor harshly, scaring a rat to scamper under the sink. 

Silence broke out as the two tried to listen for the other, predator and prey seeking their own survival.

Vanya wiped the drool from her chin and watched the barely agape cabinet under the sink resembling a prowling cat. Her blurry sight sharpened just after she heard a distressed squeak. She reached into the utensil drawer, searching blindly. The silver jingled, and if the rat were any smarter, it would have known that was equivalent to church bells. 

The young girl stalked forth, fork in hand. It was over before it had even begun.

With the door shut behind her and no holes to escape to, her fork met the rat with vicious force. Her old barn cat had eaten mice, her dad told her many times not to touch the remains it had left by their doormat. If their barn cat could eat mice, she reasoned, she could eat another kind of rodent. Her teeth sank into tough warm flesh. Blood gushed over her chin, her prey rolling in her grasp. Its own teeth tore her thumb, fighting in vain since no comparable creature could survive a chunk bitten off their ribs, taking a few bones with it. 

The front door opened. Heavy feet entered lightly, faintly tapping against the cold tile.

Her bone bitten fingers curled tighter around her catch. Chewing slowly, her lips smacked as the rat continued to squirm. She didn’t dare shift into the cramped cabinet. Her alert but lidded eyes unfocused to engage her hearing. She pictured Mr White stumbling through the room, but the near-silent click of fancy shoes disregarded that idea. Mr White rarely wore anything other than his mud-dried workboots, and never these clacky kinds. 

There was a stranger in the condo, unaware of her presence. 

The rat cried out one last time before she crushed it’s tiny skeleton with a  _ crunch _ . She held her breath as the stranger paused, her heart refused to calm to a respectable pace for an experienced hider. She knew better than to leave her hiding spot to see who it was, had learned that weeks ago when Mr White had swooped her into his arms and fled from the barn.

But the stranger had apparently heard her and now stood in front of the cabinet she sat in. The shadow fell over her and she was no longer able to see light in the cracks of the door. Once again, the door creaked open, saving Vanya by a hair. 

She stayed still as Mr White startled and cursed. The tussle ended almost too quickly and by the time the condo was quiet once more Vanya had the majority of the rat’s innard burst over her digits and most of the body choked down. She didn’t taste the raw viscous above her heart beating frantically in her throat, smothered in bile. A heavy thump sounded nearby. The rustling came closer, followed by a sudden light blinding Vanya. 

Yet she refused to take her eyes off the man towering above her. The man had sleek blond hair, coiffed like one of the princes in her dad’s stories. His grey suit had a shiny layer of plastic, gloves tucked neatly into his sleeves. 

He stared at her bloodied face in a carefully concealed surprise. Vanya bared her teeth and curled over her rat. Prince Sunshine scowled in disgust and backed away, returning to Mr White’s still form laying on the floor. 

Vanya gasped; Mr White hated it when she slept on the floor, claiming it was as dirty as her hair was tangled. She watched, baffled, as Prince Sunshine dirtied the floor and furniture with the blood of Mr White. 

Mr White’s shirt was not white anymore, shred and stained on the couch. Prince Sunshine crouched beside him, his hands disappeared into the chest. Vanya tried to peek over Prince Sunshine’s shoulder, leaning this way and that, but she couldn’t see.

She  _ had  _ to see. 

With her rat clutched to her chest, she crept forward. Prince Sunshine tensed, but Vanya just wandered to his side, peering into the chest cavity. He had not sneered at her to leave, so she stayed. Mr White’s bones were spread like the giant spiders she had seen crawl on her old barn walls, crooked and curved similar to a blooming flower. Then her curiosity spiked as Prince Sunshine began to remove bits of meat from the opened ribs.

When he had torn a pair of  _ something _ out, Vanya blurted, “What are those?”

Prince Sunshine placed the  _ things _ into an icy cooler. He examined her, from her bloody mouth, down her stained flowery dress, to her scraped knees. Finally, he looked into her eyes, catching the morbid interest she had not bothered to hide. His own eyes narrowed as she held his gaze. He found something worthwhile and answered, “These are the lungs. You have them, as well.”

“That means you’ve got lungs, too, sir?” Her polite drawl made Prince Sunshine’s mouth quirk into something other than a smile.

“That is correct,” Prince Sunshine assured, then reached into Mr White again. He cupped a still organ with his large hand. “Do you know what this one is?”

Vanya stepped closer, eager to please. Her once intelligent caution depleted instantly to earn another of those not-smiles. Her limited knowledge, however, had her chasing lines without hooks. 

“It’s not his belly, I know that!”

Prince Sunshine had not looked disappointed, rather unsurprised actually. 

“This is the heart. Pigs like your father do not deserve a beating one.” Vanya had not noticed until then that Prince Sunshine spoke in a thicker accent than her dad had, the opposite of Mr White’s slurred speech. 

“He’s not my dad, my dad is Ukrainian,” She said absently as she stored the new contradicting information about hearts in her head. Her face scrunched in confusion. “Dad didn’t draw hearts like that,” she pointed to the organ that he had removed already in her moment of wonder. “Are you sure, sir?”

Prince sunshine puffed an unamused breath from his nose. He sat back on his haunches, hands freely hung by his sides. 

“I am sure, I studied to be a surgeon for almost ten years.” Vanya straightened her posture, gawping in awe. Prince Sunshine, she realized, was actually  _ Doctor Sunshine _ .

“Did Dad lie, then?” She asked.

“Parents often lie to their children to coddle them. How the child perceives the lie is solely based on them.” Doctor Sunshine fixed his shoulders back, subtly mimicking her body language.

Vanya frowned. “He said that his heart holds all his love. Doctor, is that true?”

“Love is a chemical reaction in the brain. The heart does not hold any substance, rather it pumps blood throughout your body.”

Vanya pouted even more. “Was Dad dumb?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps he had not wanted to tell you the truth. You are still young.”

“I’m not a baby, Doctor! I’m six and a half!” Vanya scuffed her heel into the tile, jostling her rat. Doctor Sunshine glanced at it, grimaced, and wiped his gloves of most of the residue. 

“Very well, but how old did your father view you as? You must have been his little child who needed him, relied heavily on him.” He raised a clear eyebrow. It twisted his angular face into an unreadable expression, as there was nothing but false concern in those gleaming eyes.

“Um, I think I was six, but he called me a big girl, so I'm not little!” Vanya shifted uncertaintly. 

“You do seem mature." Vanya perked at the doctor's words. She wiggled her toes in a lazy excitement and blushed in embarrassment when her stomach growled. Doctor Sunshine assessed her again. “Are you hungry?”

“Mr White didn’t come back for a long time," Vanya excused.

“What another reason for you to take back what he spoiled.”

“Hm, how? He took Dad… Can I have him back?” She asked hopefully, looking up as Doctor Sunshine rose to his full height.

“Those who are gone rarely return. Look at him." He nodded to what remained of Mr White. “Fortunately, he will never return.”

“But I need food. He gives me food.” Vanya internally panicked as the innate hunger reappeared suddenly twice as painful as before. The dull ache doubled back as a cramp. 

Her wheezing alerted Doctor Sunshine, he pursed his pink lips and turned to the kitchen. Standing in front of the stove, he rummaged around different cabinets and shelves. After he had collected a substantial amount of spices and herbs, a stick of frozen butter, a large bowl, and the single skillet in the condo, she had climbed on to the side countertop.

“Such a shame your first will be subpar, but this will have to do.” The doctor retrieved his cooler and a not so sharp kitchen knife from the block hidden on the top of the fridge. He rinses his covered hands thoroughly. With his plastic suit and gloves still on, he cut the heart into thick slivers and spread them in the bowl. 

“What are you doing now?”

“I will make you a meal before I leave,” He claimed over his shoulder. Vanya observed, greedily taking in the doctor’s process of sniffing then dousing the meat. He rolled them individually in the spices. 

“Where are you going, Doctor?” Vanya knestled herself beside the sink, allowing herself to relax and sit. Her slim feet dangled, too tired to swing them as she normally would have. 

“Home.” He turned the stove on and tossed a chunk of butter into the skillet. Gently, he placed the slices on the sizzling pan. 

“Can I go with you?”

“No.”

“Why not?!” Was her indignant response.

“I am not able to care for a child with my work. Soon one of the neighbours will come and the police will take you,” Doctor Sunshine’s clear punciated voice nearly kept her calm despite his word. Nearly.

“The police? But I did nothing wrong! Mr White took me, I didn’t run away either.” Her toes curled and her grip tightened on her rat until it hit her lap alongside a sick  _ squelsh.  _ Other than a short scowl, Doctor Sunshine ignored her cooing over the dead thing.

“They will give you a new home, but only if you keep what you’ve done a secret.” He flipped the items in the pan. 

“What do you mean, what did I do?” 

“You will feed on him, there will be no other food available.” 

Vanya furrowed her eyebrows. Petting the sticky fur of her rat, she wondered, “Is that bad?”

“Only by law.” He quipped, discovering a plate in the side shelf. 

“What’s law?”

“The rules the government lays on to society. Many are often immoral and discriminatory. What I have done and what you will do to Darren Blake is against the law, so the police will try to punish us. But if they don’t know what you’ve done, they will not punish you,” Doctor Sunshine explained, easing the piled questions in her mind.

“Oh. I’ll keep it a secret if you keep it a secret, okay?” Vanya stuck her hand under his chin. Quite rudely, he thought, but excused it this once. They intertwined their little fingers. Doctor Sunshine easily followed Vanya's lead and pressed their thumbs together. “Pinky promise! Seal it with a kiss.”

He released their grip and plated the seared meat. Vanya stuck to his heels all the way to the dining table, tracking the mouthwatering scent like a starving hound.

She had devoured her portion in minutes, forgoing her fork and rammed the meal into her mouth directly. Doctor Sunshine looked appalled by her mannerisms. So she wiped her hands on her dress and licked her lips, a faint hue of red finally appearing on her pale cheeks. 

Doctor Sunshine had cleaned as he had gone along so Vanya only had her own dish to clean, as the Doctor had insisted. Vanya rooted herself in front and below the sink, her gut was too heavy for her to be able to climb. Despairingly, she tried to reach the plate on to the counter, rising on her toes to no avail.

Two large hands grabbed her from underneath her arms and hauled her above the sink. She yelped and struggled until he released her, uncomfortable in the hands of another nameless man. Red faced and stomach cramping, she huffed at the Doctor. He flipped the tap on. Vanya grumpily dumped the plate in the sink. Doctor Sunshine got the dish soap from under the sink. The bottle had specks of blood on it. Neither mentioned it as Vanya rinsed and lathered the dish.

The Doctor indiscreetly sniffed the air and scrunched his nose.

“How have you bathed here?” He asked. Vanya looked at him then the ground. Before he could gather her in his arms again, she purposefully tumbled down. She threw herself back on to her feet, glaring in triumph. With her back to the Doctor, she pranced to the little shack of a bathroom in the corner of the condo. It only had a toilet and a low sink, though Vanya still had some trouble reaching it. She pointed at the sink, grinning proudly. The Doctor looked appalled.

He stepped out speedily and returned baring the dish soap. With professional hurry, he mechanically cleaned the sink, then allowed her onto it. He gave her a towel he had found in the small closet inside the bathroom and told her, “Place you dress in the sink to wash, if you would. Call for me when you're ready and the towel.” 

Immediately Vanya shook her head. “Dad told me not to give my clothes to strangers.”

“And I am a stranger to you,” he concluded.

This time Vanya nodded. “I don’t know yer’ name.”

“Very well, I implore you to wash your dress the same way you have cleaned your dish. Once I leave of course.”

“Alright, when are you leaving?”

“Right about now.” He met her eyes, maroon clashed with dull grey. He smiled, revealing his crooked teeth. “We were destined to meet, Daiva.”

Vanya blinked contently and when she opened her eyes, she was alone. But, this time, she wasn’t hungry anymore.


End file.
